The only certainty that you can expect while cold calling for sales is that you are likely to run into some sort of objections on every call. Objections are like mini stop signs that the prospect will put up to try to end the call. What you do or don’t do when you get an objection will determine your level of sales effectiveness.

When you are talking with a prospect on a cold call and they present an objection, your natural instinct will be to try to overcome the objection and resolve it. An example of this would be to respond to someone who says they are not interested by trying to get them to be interested. Below are three reasons why it can be counterproductive to try to do this on cold calls:

Confrontational: If not handled skillfully, when we try to overcome an objection and change someone’s position on something, it could easily create a feeling of confrontation.
Time constraint: When cold calling, we also have to deal with an extreme time constraint as we only have a very brief amount of time to get attention and get our message across. With that being the case, there simply is not enough time to effectively deal with objections.
Give it fuel: When we try to overcome an objection while cold calling for sales, we are acknowledging it. And when we acknowledge it, we give it fuel and make it more valid.

After taking those factors into consideration, a more effective approach to use when facing an objection on a cold call can be to redirect. To redirect an objection refers to asking a question that moves the conversation in a new direction without acknowledging, nor ignoring, the objection. The goal of the redirect is to keep the conversation going and not to overcome the objection.

Below are some examples of redirects for some common examples that you can encounter while cold calling for sales.

I am not interested. Redirect: What are you using today?

I am happy with my current system. Redirect: How long have you been using your current system?

I do not have any money. Redirect: I understand. I am not looking to sell or suggest any changes today. My goal is to simply open a dialogue to learn more and share information.

I do not have time: Redirect: I understand. When would be the best time for me to reach back out to you?

There are only so many objections that you will consistently run against for the products that you sell. With that being the case, it can be very helpful to create a list of objections to expect and then script out the best redirects.

By redirecting, you keep the conversation going and get the prospect to put their mini stop sign down again. By using this tactic, it could buy you a little more time while cold calling for sales and that could lead to you getting more information or to you giving more information, which can help to improve your sales effectiveness.
Source: Jake Atwood, President at Ovation Sales Group & BuzzBuilder Pro